ADRIENNE CULLENtakes a wander around the raffish town where moments of genius are just around the corner
IT HAS YET to find its Inspector Morse to cement its place in the popular imagination, but Cambridge likes it that way.
It has taken more than 700 years to build its reputation as one of the most beautiful and rarefied university cities in the world – so it’s happy to leave the academic intrigue, the back-stabbing and the bloodshed to the competition.
There may indeed be lust, jealousy and murderous intent aplenty behind the ancient doors of this city’s 31 colleges, but, unlike Colin Dexter’s blood-soaked Oxford, in Cambridge that’s generally where they stay.
What's most seductive here is not the prospect of a dismembered body floating down by the boathouse; it's the prospect of a gentle punt down the River Cam, past "the Backs" – literally the backs of the colleges that run down to the river – and on to the many Wind in the Willows-style picnic spots.
It always reminds me of one of my favourite newspaper cuttings – a story in the Sunday Timesduring the 1990s about an increase in the drop-out rate at Oxbridge colleges, accompanied by a picture of students lolling on the grass, and the headline spread over two pages: "Season of mellow uselessness . . . "
Still, when you’re on holiday, that’s exactly what you want: plenty of mellow uselessness. And Cambridge’s glorious architecture and streets reeking of history, combined with the slightly raffish feel that students always bring to a city, give the town a fantastic, chilled-out aura.
Don’t expect it to be quiet though. Cambridge is one of the UK’s busiest tourist locations, attracting three million visitors a year.
A good many of those start their tour at King’s College Chapel, the most famous building in the city, renowned for its vaulted ceiling, stone carvings and stained glass.
You could spend a lifetime exploring the colleges alone. But if you've just a few days, make sure to visit Trinity College, with its magnificent gatehouse, its Great Court, where the famous race around the cloisters was run in Chariots of Fire, and its Wren library.
After King’s College Chapel, the next most-photographed location is the Bridge of Sighs, which bears little resemblance to its namesake in Venice. It’s in St John’s College, home of the best-known May Ball, which was ranked the seventh best party in the world by Time magazine.
And staying with bridges, another one to see is the Mathematical Bridge in Queens’ College, also a postcard favourite. It was allegedly designed and built by Sir Isaac Newton without the use of nuts or bolts – although engineers, unable to match his ingenuity, have had to use them in repairs over the years.
Because the colleges run down to the river, it’s not always possible to walk through the Backs, although some do allow you to pay an entrance fee. The public bridges are Magdalene Bridge, Garret Hostel Bridge and Silver Street Bridge, and you can hire punts at the latter or at Quayside, by Magdalene Bridge. When you’re not on the water, bikes are the preferred mode of transport.
Walking tours are always popular, and this year there’s a plethora of Darwin tours, to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. The tours include his rooms at Christ’s College, as well as the library, the dining hall and the memorial garden.
When you feel the need for a dose of reality, head for Cambridge Market in the shadow of Great St Mary’s, the university church, where you’ll find bric-a-brac, clothes and food stalls six days a week, replaced on Sundays by craft stalls and a farmers’ market.
When you need time out, head for the Eagle pub on Bene’t Street, whose site is owned by Corpus Christi College.
It’s here that Francis Crick interrupted the lunchtime drinkers on February 28th, 1953, to announce that he and James Watson had discovered the structure of DNA, “the secret of life”. Cambridge is like that.
Where to stay, eat and go in Cambridge
5 places to stay
- Crowne Plaza Hotel. 20 Downing Street, 00-44-871-4234931, www.crowneplaza.co.uk. Unremarkable but for its great location, right in the centre of the city. Rates are from about €45 per room, if you book well in advance, to about €140 for last-minute bookings.
- Royal Cambridge Hotel. Trumpington Street, 00-44-1223-351631, www.theroyalcambridgehotel.co.uk. One of the oldest hotels in Cambridge and once part of the Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Rates for the 57 en-suite, period rooms range from about €45 per person sharing up to about €80.
- Hotel Felix. Whitehouse Lane, Huntingdon Road, 00-44-1223-277977, www.hotelfelix.co.uk. According to Condé Nast, this is one of the 25 best hotels in the UK. Its style is cool, modern and minimalist – yet it’s not at odds with the city’s old-world charm. Rooms start at about €185, but there are a number of attractive offers that include two-night breaks, dinner, breakfast and parking.
- Arundel House Hotel. Chesterton Road, 00-44-1223-367701, www.arundelhousehotels.co.uk. With views over the River Cam, this 100-bedroom hotel is just a short walk from the historic centre. Doubles and twins range in price from about €100 to €160 and family rooms start at around €145.
- The Lensfield Hotel. 53 Lensfield Road, 00-44-1223-355017, www.lensfieldhotel.co.uk. Located in the heart of the city between King’s College and the Botanic Garden, this 30-bedroom hotel dates back to the mid-19th century and combines quaint charm and modern convenience. Doubles and twins start at about €110.
5 places to eat
- Midsummer House. Midsummer Common, 00-44-1223-369299, www.midsummerhouse.co.uk. If you want to spoil yourself, this two-Michelin-starred restaurant in a Victorian villa on the banks of the River Cam is where to go. The chef/patron is Daniel Clifford.
- Restaurant Alimentum. 152-154 Hills Road, 00-44-1223-413000, www.restaurantalimentum.co.uk. This award-winning “ethical fine dining” restaurant, owned by John Hudgell, was voted one of Britain’s top-10 restaurants the year it opened, in 2007.
- The Cambridge Chop House. 1 King’s Parade, 00-44-1223-359506, www.cambscuisine.com. The restaurant of choice for theatre-goers on the way to Cambridge Arts Theatre, a stone’s throw away. A chic interior, friendly service and delicious food.
- Carluccio’s. One Fisher Square, Grand Arcade, 00-44-1223-307046, www.carluccios.com/caffes. Cosy, tasty, friendly and reasonably-priced Italian food.
- The Eagle Pub. 8 Bene’t Street, 00-44-223-505020, www.cambridge-pubs.co.uk/ magenta.html. Originally called the Eagle and Child, the staples here are fish and chips, steak-and-ale pie and lasagne. But you’re not here for the food – soak up the atmosphere and remember February 28th, 1953, when Francis Crick silenced the lunchtime din by announcing the discovery of the DNA double helix.
5 places to go
- Punting on the River Cam. There’s nothing more quintessentially Cambridge than “messing about on the river”, and there’s no shortage of experienced students to do all the tricky work while you sit back and watch the bridges and colleges drift by. Cambridge is a beautiful city from any angle – but it’s definitely at its best when viewed from the middle of the Cam. Expect to pay about €10 for an hour-long tour of the Backs.
- Darwin Tour. These start at the Cambridge Visitor Information Centre in the Old Library on Wheeler Street (00-44-1223-464732, www.visitcambridge.org). Every Saturday morning this year, the city is organising special Darwin anniversary tours. Be there for 11am.
- King’s College Chapel. King’s Parade, 00-44-1223-331100, www.kings.cam.ac.uk/chapel. One of the most stunning examples of late Gothic English architecture, this was the brainchild of King Henry VI (the “Royal Saint”) but he didn’t live to see its completion as it took more than 100 years to build. Don’t miss the world’s largest fan-vault stained-glass windows, Rubens’s The Adoration of the Magi, and the daily service sung by the chapel’s world-famous choir.
- Cambridge Market. Market Square, 00-44-1223-457446. You can pick up anything here from fresh fish to second-hand bikes, which are always a good investment in bicycle-obsessed Cambridge. The market is even livelier at weekends when arts and crafts, local produce and garden plants bring added colour to the stalls. Open from 10am to 4pm daily.
- The Botanic Garden. 1 Brookside, 00-44-1223-336265, www.botanic.cam.ac.uk. If you need to escape from the heady academic world of the Cambridge colleges, the Botanic Garden is an oasis of calm set on 16 hectares between the city and the railway station. It was created for the university in 1831 by professor John Stevens Henslow, Charles Darwin’s natural-history teacher.
Where to shop
- Downing Street and Market Street in the city centre are the places to go for shopping, with all the main department stores and a smattering of the more exclusive boutiques. Also visit the Grand Arcade shopping mall on St Andrew’s Street.
Hot spot
- Cambridge Arts Theatre. 6 St Edward’s Passage, 00-44-1223-503333, www.cambridgeartstheatre.com. Alumni of Cambridge Footlights include everyone from Stephen Fry, Germaine Greer and Emma Thompson to Clive James, Jonathan Millar and Sacha Baron Cohen. The Footlights has had a long association with Cambridge Arts Theatre, which is the place to see and be seen in.
Coffee break
- Savino’s. 3 Emmanuel Street, 00-44-1223-566186. This is a great Italian coffee shop where the aroma of freshly-ground coffee greets you as you arrive. It’s got good sandwiches too.
What to avoid
Driving. The centre of Cambridge is not car-friendly. Nearly everyone arrives by train, walks or cycles, and you’d be well-advised to do the same. Coming from Stansted or central London, train is the easiest option.
Hiring a bike for the weekend could be a very pleasant option that will cost in the region of €5 from City Cycle Hire (61 Newnham Road, 00-44-1223-365629, www.citycyclehire.com).
Cambridge Hot Spots
Crowne Plaza Hotel
Royal Cambridge Hotel
Hotel Felix
Arundel House Hotel
The Lensfield Hotel
Midsummer House
Restaurant Alimentum
The Cambridge Chop House
Carluccio’s
The Eagle Pub
Downing Street
Punting on the River Cam
Darwin Tour
King’s College Chapel
Cambridge Market
The Botanic Garden
Cambridge Arts Theatre
Go there
Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies to London Stansted (which is 20 minutes from Cambridge by train), from Dublin, Cork, Derry, Kerry, Knock, Shannon and Belfast. Aer Lingus flies to London Heathrow from Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Belfast (www.aerlingus.com).